An enduring emotional bond that leads the infant to experience pleasure, joy, safety, and comfort in the caregiver's company, and distress when temporarily separated.

Many developmental psychologists view attachment, the special relationship between infant and caregiver, as an important building block for later relationships and adult personality. Because of its central importance to theories of social and emotional development, the scientific study of attachment has remained in the forefront of developmental psychology for the past several decades, beginning with the pioneering work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth.

The Contribution of John Bowlby

Modern attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby as a variant of object-relations theory, itself a variant of Freud's theory that the infant's tie to the mother is the cornerstone of adult personality. While it is true that Bowlby's theory is sometimes referred to. as an ethological...